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When I first joined this group, I thought that SaySusie was a nurse, but she says that she isn't.
I know just what you mean about the blood work. I often feel that my blood tests are betraying me.
I have a copy of the lab report from my great rheumy in Texas that showed the positive ANAs and a positive SSA, along with a few other things.
My current rheumy keeps saying that my blood work is "perfect". She doesn't seem to be concerned whether or not I stay on the meds that the other doc prescribed.
I get the feeling that she renews my prescriptions just to "coddle" me. I'm very, very good at taking my meds, so it makes sense to me that the blood work would read as normal - it's the meds doing their job, right?
Hugs,
Marla

Exactly Marla! I honestly think that if they had to live like this for 1 week their entire attitude would change!

MariSuccess is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

Hi Marla & tgal,
I quite agree with you both concerning specialists, it just is'nt good enough and who's to say marla might not need her tablet's but they're leaving her on it, so no one takes the blame.
Tgal i'd never wish anything i've gone through on anyone but when it comes to these Doctor's it would do alot of them good to suffer what they're diagnosing the patient's or if there's doctor's out there with it, i bet they're on good quality treatment and not what they feed the patient's, oh it gets me mad mate.

I agree with you ladies, I often feel that our doctors should walk in our shoes for a week, then we'd see how dismissive, uncaring, and callous they'd be. I understand that they see a lot of patients with a variety of issues, but they are the ones who chose to go into this profession and who took the Hippocratic oath - why is it that so many of them choose not to stand by that oath?
I have no problem confronting them and asking them what would they do if they were in my place having to deal with them!! That often leads to long moments of absolute silence followed by a completely different relationship.

Thank you ladies for the compliments. I am not a doctor or a nurse and have never been to medical school. In fact, I have no desire to go to school for anything more than what I have (lol). So save your money . What I am good at (primarily because it was part of my job for 25 yrs) is researching, interpreting information, and presenting that information in a way that is understandable and pertinent to the reader. However, I truly do appreciate all of your appreciation

Peridot_Gem:
ENA is an acronym for Extractable Nuclear Antigens. The ENA panel detects antibodies to specific antigens within the nucleus that might be responsible for the elevated ANA. If your doctor knows which antigen is elevated, it helps to make a diagnosis. However, it is not uncommon to have an elevated ANA with a normal ENA. But, if the ENA is elevated, the chances are good that you ANA is also elevated.

The results from the ANA alone cannot pinpoint the specific antigen within the nucleus that causes the elevation of the ANA. Although an elevated ANA can be found in over 95% of people with Lupus, the test's main disadvantage is that it is very nonspecific. Elevated ANA can be found in other connective tissue diseases, such as Scleroderma or Sjogren's Syndrome. An elevated ANA may also be elevated in up to 30% of "normal persons.

So, as I mentioned before, an ANA's test results should not be used alone to diagnose connective tissue/auto-immune diseases. Instead, the test should be considered in conjunction with your symptoms and other lab results in order to assist in diagnosis of auto-immune diseases.

Peridot_Gem:
ENA is an acronym for Extractable Nuclear Antigens. The ENA panel detects antibodies to specific antigens within the nucleus that might be responsible for the elevated ANA. If your doctor knows which antigen is elevated, it helps to make a diagnosis. However, it is not uncommon to have an elevated ANA with a normal ENA. But, if the ENA is elevated, the chances are good that you ANA is also elevated.

The results from the ANA alone cannot pinpoint the specific antigen within the nucleus that causes the elevation of the ANA. Although an elevated ANA can be found in over 95% of people with Lupus, the test's main disadvantage is that it is very nonspecific. Elevated ANA can be found in other connective tissue diseases, such as Scleroderma or Sjogren's Syndrome. An elevated ANA may also be elevated in up to 30% of "normal persons.

So, as I mentioned before, an ANA's test results should not be used alone to diagnose connective tissue/auto-immune diseases. Instead, the test should be considered in conjunction with your symptoms and other lab results in order to assist in diagnosis of auto-immune diseases.

I hope that I've answered your question..let me know

Peace and Blessings
Namaste
Saysusie

Hi Saysusie,

Thanks alot for getting back to me and i apologise for being a few days late with my reply to you, as i've not been good and to top the load bad news with my hubby, i just wished the ground would open and swallow we up.

The information as helped me alot thank you and it makes me search more also but i'll always come to you, if i'm unable to understand something.